Fiorentina Pursue Juventus Full-Back Joao Mario on Loan

Fiorentina have stepped up their summer business with a formal move for Juventus full-back Joao Mario, a player who no longer figures in Luciano Spalletti’s plans for the 2026-27 season.

According to reports from Gianluca Di Marzio, the Viola have tabled an offer built around a season-long loan, with an option to buy set at around €8m-€9m. The proposal is on Juventus’ desk and, with all parties open to a solution, the deal is described as one that could be wrapped up as early as next week.

For Joao Mario, it would be another sharp turn in a stop-start Italian adventure.

Juventus brought the Portuguese defender in from Porto last summer for €12.6m, seeing him as a modern full-back capable of driving play on either flank. The integration never truly took hold. He managed just 10 Serie A appearances for the Bianconeri before being moved on in January, part of a double loan arrangement that saw him join Bologna while Emil Holm travelled in the opposite direction to Turin.

Neither club chose to trigger a permanent transfer at the end of those spells. Joao Mario reported back to Juventus for pre-season, training and featuring in friendlies, but his status was clear: surplus to requirements under Spalletti, who is reshaping his squad ahead of the new campaign.

That has opened the door for Fiorentina.

The Tuscan side see an opportunity in a player still in his mid-twenties, with top-level European experience and a point to prove after a fractured first year in Serie A. The proposed structure of the deal suits them: a low-risk loan now, with the option to commit if he settles and delivers across the season.

For Juventus, the numbers matter. An €8m-€9m option would not recoup the full €12.6m outlay, but it would move a non-essential salary off the books and bring in a reasonable fee for a defender who has yet to establish himself in Turin.

All that remains is for the clubs to align on the final details. If they do, Joao Mario’s next competitive minutes in Italy could come in purple rather than black and white, and a career that has flickered on the fringes at Juventus might finally get the run it has been waiting for.